FSU Football: Willie Taggart should not be on hot seat after losing season

FSU football did something that hasn’t been done since the 1976 season, and the man in charge has to be put on notice but not lose his job.

It was a season where the FSU football team was breaking in a new head coach and had to do so with a schedule that included home losses to Clemson and Florida, a road loss against Miami and a win against a ranked Boston College team. In actuality, all of those things were true about the last two seasons in which the Seminoles had a losing campaign.

The difference is that while Bobby Bowden was given every chance in the world despite starting out with a losing season in 1976, there is a segment of the FSU football fan base that is not giving the same level of leniency to Willie Taggart after his first season on the job (for some idiots, it has nothing to do with football, but with the color of his skin and those people are an embarrassment to the Seminoles fanbase).

Florida State Seminoles Football

While Bowden went 5-6 for a Seminoles program that had won just four games in the three seasons prior to his debut in 1976, Taggart started his Tallahassee tenure with a 5-7 record that came after 41 seasons where the Noles finished the year above .500.

For that reason alone, Willie Taggart has found his seat a lot warmer as the leader of the FSU football program in the eyes of some fans who are spoiled by past success that looked so easy and not understanding everything involved.

For the record, I am in no way shape or form calling for the dismissal of Taggart after just one season with the Seminoles – and I will go as far as to say anyone who is doing so is an idiot. After what was left by the previous “leadership” and all the factors that came with a much more difficult schedule and incorporating a brand new scheme, a little bit of leeway must be given.

Does that mean I am happy about what took place this season? God no and I guarantee that Taggart isn’t either. In fact, the Seminoles should be disgusted in the fact that they let two of the longest streaks in college football history come to an end this season and put the final nail in the coffin of the last era of FSU football.

With all of that being said, the standard that has been set in Tallahassee is one of winning seasons, bowl games and playing for titles. It was one thing the last three seasons that the last one was out of the question because you at least had the other two – but not having any of the three means Taggart should in fact be put on notice, but not risk losing his job after just 12 games.

What does Willie Taggart need to do to cool down that seat and ease the pressure? Well, for starters, a winning season will help – and it should be much more possible with Miami, Syracuse and NC State losing star players along with replacing Notre Dame with Boise State and Northern Illinois with Louisiana Monroe on the schedule.

Second, there must be a cleaner FSU football team out on the field in 2019. I’ll get many of the mistakes early in the season when you are going from a pro style offense to more of a RPO – but some of the mistakes against Florida, including formations and penalties, were unacceptable for game number 12.

A losing season necessitates having the fire lit on that seat – but it’s not something that can’t be fixed or something that should make 2019 his final chance in Tallahassee.